1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protein polysaccharide 0041 with an immunopotentiating antitumor activity.
According to the present invention, protein polysaccharide 0041 has an immunopotentiating antitumor activity and thus high potency as an antitumor agent and an immunopotentiating substance for various tumors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, fruit body of Agaricus blazei is regenerated and manufactured by artificially culturing its mycelia, and its dried fruit body is commercialized in a large amount as functional food.
The water extract of the dried fruit body, extracted with hot water, is drunk with the expectation of efficacy such as immunopotentiation.
Preparation of the fruit body of Agaricus blazei requires a considerable day and time for regeneration of the fruit body from seed culture of the mycelia, and the productivity is low and its price for commercialization is consequently high.
There are a large number of Agaricus blazei mutants, and their efficacies of the biological activities are rather diverse and generally not uniform as a whole.
The object of the present invention is to search cultured mycelia of Agaricus blazei, not for the generation of the fruit body, but for a new strain of Agaricus blazei excellent in efficacy and stable productivity and to isolate a new immunopotentiating substance from the cultured mycelia.